Videotaped Roundtable Discussion:
THE FUTURE OF COMMUNITY MEDIA IN NEW YORK STATE
1 hour 31 minutes 54 seconds
Produced by ACMNY - Alliance for Community Media of New York

Videotaped on April 18, 2015 at Open Stage Media (Proctors.org) in Schenectady, New York.

According to the moderator, Maryann Arrien of the Alliance for Community Media of New York, there are vast sections of New York state that have either no local channels, or an inadequate number of channels and staffing to support their operations, putting New York State residents at a disadvantage compared to other states in the North East Region when it comes to seeing their local government and school meetings, as well as local cultural programming on Community TV channels.

The panelists include Proctors Executive Director Philip Morris, NYS Assemblyman Peter Lopez (District 102), NYS Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara (District 111), John A. Figliozzi, former Chief of Municipal Assistance at the NYS Public Service Commission – now of FSI Municipal Consultants LLC, and President Michael Vandow of Schopeg, Inc. In addition to the live guests, there were videotaped comments from NYS Assemblywoman Sandy Galef (District 95), NYS Assemblyman Kevin A. Cahill (District 103), US Congressman Chris Gibson (NY-19) of Columbia/Greene County, Alliance for Community Media national organization President Mike Wassenaar, present and past Chairpersons of the Alliance for Community Media North East Region Karen Hayden and Nancy Richard. In addition there were videotaped comments former NY State residents Executive Director Jennifer Evans of West Hartford Community Television in Connecticut and Membership & Outreach Coordinator Erica Jones of Somerville Community Access Television in Massachusetts.

The panel discussed the value of Public, Educational & Government Access Television, why it is absent, weak or dying in some areas. They speculated on ideas of how to remedy that, took stock of how PEG Access TV is presently funded, and how it should be funded in the future taking into account the changes in video distribution technology. In addition to new funding streams, they addressed the problem of the lack of parity of video quality and channel accessibility of local community non-commercial channels with their local ‘for profit’ local TV channels counterparts. Most cable providers do not provide closed captioning, a presence on the electronic programming guide necessary to record a local access TV program with a DVR, and some even relegate local PEG TV channels to a channel with sub-menus that are inconvenient to access, leading to less of a viewer share than commercial television.

This finished program is available on a complimentary DVD to any local access TV station, and is downloadable at www.acmny.org in both Standard Definition and High Definition files. Complimentary copies of the DVD are also available to show at a community gatherings and libraries in New York State.

For more information, or to request a DVD for your community, contact Maryann Arrien at Arrien@optonline.net or call 845-528-7420. Membership in ACMNY is free, so join our mailing list if you wish to be notified of our events or scholarship opportunities to attend ACM conferences.

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